CASLPA'S 40th Anniversary

2004 is the 40th anniversary of the founding of CASLPA, originally known as the Canadian Speech and Hearing Association (CSHA), founded in 1964.

In celebration of our achievements the 2004 issues of Communique have featured a series of retrospective articles. Below is April's feature.

40 CASLPA Facts by Angie Friend (D'Aoust)

CASLPA was launched as a professional association in 1964 under the name of the Canadian Speech and Hearing Association (CSHA). This is the second installment of our historical retrospective series. Watch the summer and fall issues of Communiqué for more interesting material.

"With clear vison and well-defined objectives, we can give
stature to the professions in this country."
Isabel Richard, Founding President

40 Facts

1. It all began November 1964 in San Francisco with a meeting between 14 Canadian speech and hearing professionals at an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) conference.

2. Isabel French Richard was the first President.

3. Our first address was a permanent P.O. Box - 1417 Station B, Ottawa, ON K1P 5A0.

4. The first constitution was approved in 1966.

5. The 165 charter members of CASLPA paid a $1.00 membership fee.

6. First by-laws came into effect in 1967.

7. During the 1960's you could "not quite fill a shoe box" with the Association's membership cards. Today it takes a 10' x 6' filing system and a computerized database to house the records of our more than 4,800 members.

8. First demographic study of Speech and Hearing Services in Canada was undertaken in 1969.

9. In 1970 there were only five audiologists practicing in Ontario. CSHA member Naneve Hawke was one of them and the first practicing audiologist at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children.

10. The first active association committees focused on nominations and membership. By 1971 these had been expanded and formalized to include admissions, elections, advisory, and charter.

11. Provincial representation was introduced in national council in 1973.

12. Publication of the first issue of the Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology (JSLPA), formerly called Human Communication Canada, occurred in 1973.

13. Russell Malone was the first JSLPA Editor.

14. CSHA was incorporated under federal law in 1975. There were 361 members.

15. The organization's first independent annual conference was held in Halifax in 1976. 300 of 400 members attended.

16. The Purple Elks were strong early supporters of the speech and language movement in Canada.

17. CASLPA's first Award, the Distinguished Service Award was presented to Robert Coulling in 1976.

18. Publication of the first issue of Communiqué (known then as Hear Here) occurred in 1976.

19. The Federal Government designated CSHA as the contact agency for all information relating to Speech and Hearing in 1977.

20. In the 1980's John Gilbert ensured CASLPA was on the cutting edge of electronic communication, providing all national council members with unix systems that allowed them to communicate with each other on an email network that operated on UBC's mainframe.

21. Enactment of the Association's Canon of Ethics occurred in 1982. It was revised in 1993.

22. CHSA participated in two major federal department of health and welfare task force reports that were published in 1982 - Clinical Guidelines in Speech-Language Pathology and Guidelines for the practice of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.

23. Establishment of a permanent Head Office and staff took place in 1984.

24. CASLPA was a driving force behind the lobby for GST/HST exemptions for speech-language pathology services.

25. CSHA was officially renamed Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology (CASLPA) in 1985.

26. Institution of a National Professional Standards Program including a national certification exam, continuing education program and site accreditation was officially introduced in 1985.

27. CASLPA's certified its first member in 1987 - Andrée Durieux Smith, AUD (C)

28. In 1988, the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, of Edmonton, Alberta, was the first site accredited under the Canadian Accreditation of Service Programs (CASP).

29. CASLPA completed its first comprehensive demographic study in 1989.

30. Mandatory continuing education equivalents (CEEs) were introduced in 1995 as a requirement for maintaining CASLPA certification.

31. CASLPA has negotiated certification reciprocity with ASHA.

32. The first Joint Provincial Membership Agreement was signed
April 29, 1998.

33. CASLPA's first history book was published in 1999 in celebration of the association's 35th anniversary.

34. The most popular area of the CASLPA website is the Careers Section. More than 300,000 people a year visit www.caslpa.ca.

35. CASLPA co-hosted the 25th World Congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) in Montreal in 2001.

36. An Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), to support the portability of audiologists and speech-language pathologists across Canada, was signed in 2001.

37. The CASLPA MasterCard was launched in 2002.

38. The CASLPA Mission statement, first formalized in 1990, was refined and an accompanying Vision statement developed in 2003.

39. CASLPA's online learning education portal was launched in 2003 with the course: Using a Motor Speech Perspective in Assessment and Treatment of Children's Speech Disorders presented by Debra Goshulak.

40. A reciprocal agreement for mutual recognition of credentials internationally will be signed in 2004.